


Bodhi's Flight

by ShadowEtienne



Series: Lyra's Choice [3]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 11:25:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10162100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowEtienne/pseuds/ShadowEtienne
Summary: Lyra made a different choice when Krennic came to take Galen away.  Now she faces how to deal with that as Bodhi prepares to leave Jedha and leave Jyn behind.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SidleyParkHermit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SidleyParkHermit/gifts).



The next few years were surprisingly peaceful.  Lyra was relieved that they managed to walk through life unnoticed despite the mounting Imperial presence.  The stormtroopers were not searching for her though, and to them, she and her daughter were simple citizens.  They were searching for Saw’s people, and they were threatening the Temple, but for the time being, the Guardians of the Whills still held sway.

Jyn was happy as Liana.  She was friends with Bodhi and his younger siblings, and she had other friends they had met in the market and the Temple, but she often herself apart, and Lyra worried that Jyn would never have many close friends.  Bodhi was perhaps the only exception.  He was shy and amiable, but also firm in his determination when he had something he really wanted.

When Bodhi was eighteen and Jyn fifteen, Lyra saw Jyn’s happiness and safety on Jedha tested.  Bodhi had been going somewhere for several days without telling anyone.  He’d been working for a few years at that point, but just at a stall at the market around the corner, and Jyn could usually be found hovering around it, helping out by running errands for a few credits.

He came back one evening, exuberant and spotting Lyra, he showed her the little plaque he was carrying, “I got in!  I’m going to the Academy.  Mama will get my stipend, and she won’t have to worry about having enough food, and I’ll learn how to fly.”

Lyra was worried, and she had no idea what to say.  Jyn popped out of their rooms onto the stairwell behind her before she could think of anything, and asked, “What’s your news now that you’re not being made of secrets?”

Bodhi laughed and also showed her the plaque, “I got into the Academy.  I can learn to fly!”

Jyn turned away, and he looked helplessly at Lyra, clearly not sure what he’d done wrong.  Lyra gave him a look of sympathy.  She knew why Jyn was angry, and she understood Bodhi’s happiness, but she wished that she could keep him away from the Empire’s clutches.

She told him, “Go up and tell your family.  Come back down in a bit.”

He nodded and hurried up the stairs.  Lyra turned to her daughter, gathering her close, “I’m sorry Stardust.  He’s trying to take care of his family.”

Jyn scowled, “I don’t want people to go away to keep others safe when they’d be better if they stayed.”

Lyra patted her hair gently, “I won’t tell you how to manage your friendships, but I always regretted those friends I let leave without wishing them well on their way out.”

She slipped back out onto the stairs, leaving Jyn to think, and she wasn’t surprised that Bodhi appeared again on the stairs not long after.  She waved him down, and whispered so Jyn wouldn’t hear, “I think that she’ll talk to you, but I wanted discuss something first.”

She led him halfway up the stairs and continued, “Liana is upset for a reason.  It has to do with her father.  I know that we’ve said he was dead, but he’s a prisoner of sorts, an engineer for the Empire.  He did not leave by choice.  She misses him.”

Bodhi looked at her wide eyed and said mournfully, “I just wanted to help my family.”

Lyra put a gentle hand on his arm, “It’s alright.  Can I ask something of you, for her and me?”

Bodhi nodded and said, “Anything ma’am.  Liana’s the best friend I’ve ever had, and you’re like a second mother.”

Lyra sighed, “It’s two things really.  The first is that you try your best not to be a fighter pilot.  There is too much killing for me to want to see you in that place.  The second is a little bit more serious.”

Bodhi nodded along, “I can do that.  I don’t think that I want to fly a fighter, it might be exciting, but it would be frightening too, and I don’t like the killing either.  Is the second thing about Liana’s father?”

Lyra nodded in turn, “I want you to try to find him and talk to him.  Tell him that we’re alright, but that we do still miss him and if there’s a way out, we’d like him to try.”

Bodhi looked thoughtful, “I’ll do it.  How will I find him?”

Lyra looked over him carefully, “Do you swear that you won’t speak of us to anyone other than Liana’s father?”

Bodhi nodded and told her, “On my life.  I wouldn’t hurt Liana.  I promise.  Nor you neither.”

Lyra took a deep breath, wondering if she was right to trust a teenager like this, and continued, voice hushed and terrified, “Hallik isn’t our real name, it’s Erso.  Her father is Galen Erso, and he’s an engineer, weapons and kyber crystal research.  He’ll be somewhere secret and safe.  Tell him that Stardust and her mother sent you.  He’ll know who you mean.  If he asks, my name is Lyra, and hers, Jyn, but do not share that unless he asks.”

Bodhi was quiet for a long time, and he reached over to hug her, “I’ll try, I promise.  I’ll miss you Lyra.”

She felt a strange weight lift off her shoulders being called her real name, “Don’t use it though, not again.  There’s danger in my real name and hers.”

She did not know what Jyn and Bodhi discussed, but he was with her for a while, and Jyn looked less sullen when they finally emerged.  They spent most of their time together for Bodhi’s last week on Jedha, and Lyra knew that things would be harder for Jyn with Bodhi gone.

 


End file.
